Ben Apfelbaum

TROPFEST 2019 : THE WRAP

Tropfest has suffered some very heavy blows both financial and physical.

Tropfest was nearly dealt a fatal blow due to financial mismanagement but not at the hands of founding director John Polson. CGU Insurance  and Parramatta Council came to Tropfest’s rescue whereby it transferred from Centennial Park to Parramatta Park. In fact, a few years ago, in Centennial Park, Tropfest had to be suspended due to a violent electrical storm over the park .                   

Once again, this time in the lead up to this year’s Tropfest, a severe electrical storm accompanied by torrential rain and strong winds smashed Tropfest’s stage and screens, soaked the electricals, and left the Crescent lawns sodden. However, the construction crew worked around the clock to set up two substitute screens , and an admittedly tiny stage up the hill in a pasture next to old Government House. The traditional black carpet was also rescued so all was ready by 3pm when Tropfest’s proceedings officially began.

People streamed in with picnic baskets, deck chairs, blankets and drinks under a glorious cloudless sky which led into a lovely balmy night.  Both Tropfest 27 and Trop Junior had the usual yet exciting mix of larrikin humour, surrealism and illuminating serious social issues.

Both categories’ short films could be no longer than seven minutes and each had to include an item in the case of Trop Junior- a pizza, and in the case of Tropfest 27- a candle.

Trop Junior judges were actors Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Miah Madden, Sophia Forrest, Will McDonald and last years’ Trop Jnr winner Tadji Ulrich.

The winner of Trop Jnr was the film Rewire , director/producer Kat Alexander. Best female actor went to Tyallah Bulloch and best male actor went to William Kaspar.

In between the screenings of Trop Jnr and Tropfest 27 Craft awards were handed out to, in some ways the most important people in the film’s production, those working ‘behind the screen’.

Tropfest 27 judges were actors Eric Bana, Marta Dusseldorp, Aaron Pedersen, Jessica McNamee and director and Tropfest alumnus David Michod.

The prize for best Picture went to Be You T. Fool. Best female actor award was shared by Shabana Azeez and Evelyn Krap. A tie is a   rare event and it may be that the $3,000 prize courtesy of Nicole Kidman may have to be split. Best male actor was again also a tie with the award going to Ryan New and Andrew Tressuder. Nicole Kidman also sponsored this prize to the tune of $3000.

Kristy Best hosted Trop Jnr, Giles Hardie hosted the craft awards with Yumi Stynes and Rob Shehadie hosting Tropfest 27. These hosts together with a DJ ensured there were no dull moments in between the screenings.

Featured image- Maude Garrett and Marta Dusseldorp.Pics by Ben Apfelbaum

https://www.tropfest.org.au/

 

 

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.